In hospitals, veterans' rehabilitation centers, and similar medical therapeutic establishments, a large proportion of time is spent in teaching patients to walk or if they have walked at one time to reteach them to walk. For example, in the rehabilitation of hemiplegics, paraplegics as well as patients afflicted with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, osteogenesis imperfecta, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Parkinson's disease and severe rheumatoid arthritic conditions, all at one time or another need to learn to walk if possible. The same is true of post-operative patients, particularly those with orthopedic problems.
Substantial time is spent by therapists helping to support a person to walk a few steps each day. In such therapy, the therapist must gauge by "feel" of the patient's weight, how much force to exert in aiding the patient to walk and also gauge the proper speed of which the patient is capable. Return of self-confidence in being able to walk is oftentimes difficult under the best conditions.
In addition to the foregoing problems with medical patients, there are many elderly people who have difficulty in walking around in their own homes. While wheelchairs are available, if an elderly person is capable of walking at all, it would be desirable to encourage such walking to avoid the elderly person constantly having to lower or raise himself from a chair or sitting position.